Lost and Friends
by Wolfpoet
Summary: Ruby is gets separated from Yang. Luckily, she is found by two mysterious Faunus. (Might turn into a three or four chapter story depending on feedback. I don't own Rwby or the cover art)
1. Chapter 1

It was a windy fall afternoon, and clouds covered the sky. A playground sat nearly abandoned, surrounded by a forest of green trees. It was on the smaller side; being composed only of a swing set, monkey bars, a jungle gym and a single slide. All was quiet, until the sounds of muffled sobs broke through the cool air.

A small six year old girl sat against the blue jungle gym's base, her legs were hugged up against her chest and her head was buried in her knees. The sobs belonged to her, as she was feeling great despair. For a while, the only sound was that of the crying girl, and the wind. And then another new noise broke through the relative quiet.

"Go away, Adam!" A young girl huffed as she walked towards he playground. She carried a book under her arm and was walking rather quickly. Her hair was a dark ebony color and she was clad in a black dress. Atop her head were a pair of sleek black cat ears. Her exotic amber eyes were narrowed in annoyance. A boy of the same age, apparently named Adam, walked along beside her, occasionally tugging at a lock of the girl's dark hair. The boy had spiky brown hair with red highlights, bright brown eyes, and was clad in a grey shirt and black pants. Two horns stuck out of his head, resembling those of a bull.

"But Blaaaaakkkkkke!" Adam's young voice cracked as he stretch out his friend's name. "I'm so bored! Come on, lets play on the swings!" He tried to convince her.

"Stop being so dramatic! And I told you, I came out here to read my b-" Blake cut herself short and stopped walking when her eyes fell upon a small girl. She seemed to be crying, her short red hair was all messed up and Blake could hear her hiccuping into her knees.

Adam, confused by his friend's abrupt halt, waved his hand in front of her face. "Hey, what're you looking at?" He questioned. In answer, Blake pointed over to the crying girl. She was wearing a red dress and looked a little younger than they were. "I wonder why she's crying..." He mumbled. It was more to himself, but Blake heard his words.

"Should we... Go over there?" She asked. They both took a moment to think about the options they had. On one hand, Blake had wanted some alone time to read her book, and Adam had wanted to hang out with Blake. Plus, this girl might tease them because of their Faunus heritage. On the other hand, neither one of them wanted to leave the girl alone when she was crying.

"Let's just check to make sure she's not hurt." Blake suggested. Adam nodded, agreeing to his friends simple plan. Together, the two walked over to stand front of the crying girl.

"Umm... Hey." Blake said somewhat awkwardly. The red head snapped her head up, giving them a clear view of her face. She had a pale complexion, and here beautiful silver eyes were tinted pink. She gasped and pushed her back up against the jungle gym. At first, Blake thought this was because of her animal traits, but then realized that the younger girl was just frightened in general.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you." It was, surprisingly, Adam who said this. Actually, it wasn't so surprising to Blake. She knew that, more than anything, Adam just wanted to show the world that he wasn't a monster.

His soft words seemed to ease the girl slightly, as she relaxed her body. "Why are you crying?" He asked. The girl wiped away a few tears with her hand before answering.

"I g-got separated from my s-sister." Her voice was shaky and fragile. "And I don't know how to get home. I've never been on my own before."

Blake and Adam both frowned. They knew the pain of being left alone, forgotten, and lost. The feline Faunus sat next to the younger girl. "You're sisters probably out there looking for you." She said gently. "If you want, we can stay here with you until she gets here." At these words, her face brightened up.

"Really?" She asked, relieved to not have to be alone anymore. Blake nodded.

"Sure." Adam agreed, trying to act as if he didn't really care. Unbeknownst to most, the Faunus boy actually enjoyed the company of others, no matter how much he tried to hide it. Unfortunately for him, Blake had always been able to see right through his façade.

"Thanks!" She exclaimed, the tears in her eyes starting to fade away. "Oh, I'm ruby!"

The two Faunus children looked at each other and were silent. They were under strict orders not to tell anyone their names. But they would probably never see this girl again, and what harm could really come from telling her their names?

"I'm Blake." The ebony girl said with a smile.

"And I'm Adam." He told her, trying to match Blake's smile with one of his own.

After introductions, a somewhat awkward silence fell over the trio. Adam was the first to break it. "So, do you guys wanna play tag?" He suggested. Neither of them were prepared for the large grin that overtook Ruby's face.

"Yea!" She exclaimed. Both of the Faunus's chuckled as the girl, who'd been crying only moments earlier, now was bouncing up and down with joy over the suggestion to play tag. They both decided that they would go easy on their younger friend.

Blake and Adam were trying their absolute hardest to catch Ruby as they played tag. But neither could come even close to tagging her. They'd been playing for around fifteen minutes, and both I'd them were hunched over and breathing heavily. Ruby, however, was not tired at all and still wanted to play a little longer.

"How about...we take a break?" Adam suggested hopefully as he tried to catch his breath. Blake nodded in agreement.

"Yea, lets rest...for a while." Blake added.

"Hey, little Red." Adam called. He had decided that this would be a good nickname for their new friend. "How'd you get to be so fast?" Ruby merely shrugged.

"I dont know." She told him innocently.

Blake walked over quietly and grabbed her book, trying not to attract the other to children's attention. She took a quick look around before walking to a lush patch of grass and sitting down on it. Maybe now she could read in peace.

But this turned out to be wishful thinking, as she was quickly surrounded by Adam on one side, and Ruby on the other. "Watcha reading?" The younger girl asked as she sat down beside her new friend. Blake sighed, watching her dream of reading alone fly away before her eyes.

"It's about a spider and a pig that become friends," She began. "And the spider helps the pig win the blue ribbon at the big show." Ruby's silver eyes brightened with interest, and Adam's head cocked in curiosity. Once again, Blake sighed. "Do you guys want me to read it to you?" She asked in monotone.

"Yes please!" Ruby said, excitement clear on her face. Adam tried to be a bit more casual about his answer, and gave her a simple nod.

"Ok, but you have to pay attention." She told them. After receiving eager nods from both her friends, Blake began to read the story aloud.

She'd only been reading for fifteen minutes when Ruby fell asleep. The young girl's head rested on Blake's shoulder, but then fell forward and landed on her leg. The Faunus girl looked down at her, and couldn't help but smile.

"Adam, Ruby fell asleep... Adam?" She tried to get her friend's attention, but discovered that he too had dozed off, his head gently laying on her shoulder. Again, she smiled.

Blake looked back down at Ruby, who continued to peacefully sleep on her leg. It wasn't often that the Faunus children could make friends with human children, the humans were usually to scared to talk to them. But this girl didn't even seem to notice their animal traits. She treated them as equals. Blake at back to read aloud, even though he audience had fallen asleep. She just liked the feeling of reading to others, not that she would let anyone else know that. As she read, she found herself absentmindedly running her hand through Ruby's hair.

"Ruby?!" Blake looked up when she heard a panicked cry. Adam woke up, not so happily, from his nap and jumped up, looking for signs of danger. Ruby didn't move, far to comfortable in her current position to open her eyes.

A blonde girl, about the same age as they were, exploded from the forest. Her hair flowed freely behind her like a trail of fire. She was looking around frantically for something, or rather someone, as she called out Ruby's name. However, she didn't seem to notice the trio.

Blake looked up at Adam. "Do you think that's Ruby's sister?" She asked as she set her book down. He shrugged.

"I dunno. They don't look alike." That was plainly obvious. In fact, the two girls looked almost opposite of each other. "But she knows Ruby, maybe she knows Ruby's sister." Blake nodded in response. "Hey!" Adam called out to the fiery blonde. The girl looked over, and when she saw Ruby she ran over in their direction. But she didn't look happy. She looked angry.

"What did you do to my sister? You better not have hurt her!" She exclaimed in a dark tone when she had reached them.

"We were taking care of her because she was crying." Blake said calmly. Adam, however, was quick to lose his temper.

"You're the one who left her alone! Don't yell at my friend!" He growled back at the blonde. Blake rolled her eyes at his little dramatic display. The girl, who was now getting up in Adam's face, was not about to back down.

"I've been looking all through the forest for her!" She argued.

"There's no sense in arguing, why don't we all just-" Blake's attempt to come them down were drowned out as Adam continued to yell.

"Well maybe, if you hadn't let her out of your sight in the first place, she wouldn't have gotten lost! Some sister you are!" It appeared Adam had struck a nerve, because the girls lilac eyes turned red.

"That's it!" Before Blake or Adam could react, the blonde girl threw a fiery fist directed at the Faunus boy's face. A flash of rose petals flew through the air.

Adam had shut his eyes, waiting for the pain that was sure to come, but he felt nothing. He opened his eyes and was surprised at what he saw. Ruby was standing behind her sister, holding back her arm so she couldn't follow through with her punch. "Yang!" Ruby scolded, her voice contained a hint of left over grogginess from her nap. "Don't punch Adam! He and Blake were really nice!"

The blonde girl, apparently Yang, took a few moments to process this, before dropping her fist and enveloping her sister in a big hug. "Don't you ever run off again! Ok?" Her anger seemed to have been completely replaced with relief "New rule, never get separated from me again. That's rule number one! Got it?"

"Got...it." Though Ruby was happy to be reunited with Yang, she was being suffocated by her hug. Luckily, the blonde released her and focused her attention back in the two Faunus children. Now that she could see Yang's face, Blake saw that it was streaked with tears.

"I guess I should thank you guys for looking after my little sis." She said sheepishly. "Um... My names Yang. Sorry about... overreacting."

Blake gave her a small smile, knowing that she was just being a big sister. "It's ok." She told the blonde. "My name's Blake." She looked over at Adam, waiting for him to introduce himself. But the boy had his arms cross, and was facing away from Yang. Apparently, he wasn't as forgiving as Blake was. The ebony haired girl sighed before throwing her arm around him and spinning him so that he was facing the blonde. "This is Adam. He's a bit of a drama queen." She quipped. Upon hearing this, he stomped his foot into the ground.

"I am not!" He yelled with defiance, but his voice cracked, taking the edge out of his tone. This made the three girls giggle.

"Well, it was nice meeting you guys. And I really appreciate you looking after Ruby, but we have to go." Yang told them.

"Ok, bye!" Blake called to the sisters. Adam merely waved.

As she was dragged away by her sister, Ruby yelled, "Wait! Will you guys be here tomorrow?" The Faunus children looked at each other. They didn't really know the answer to that question. The White Fang moved around a lot. But they hadn't heard anything about a move recently.

"Probably!" Was the best answer that the feline Faunus could reply with before the sisters disappeared into the forest.

The next day, Ruby had told Yang that she was going to the playground before she went racing out the door. Now she knew the way. She had her heart set on beating Adam in a race, just to show him how fast she really was. She'd left at about noon, and it only took her nine minutes to get to the play ground.

But it was empty. No Blake, no Adam. Ruby felt like crying. In silence, she tried to cheer herself up by playing on the swigs. But it didn't work, and she found herself only swaying slightly in the wind.

"Hey, Little Red."

"Don't tell me you're lost again."

Ruby whipped her head to the side, and was excited to see her Faunus friends standing there. Blake was holding a book to her face, and Adam had his arms crossed with a smirk on his face.

"You came back!" She exclaimed. Without giving them a chance to prepare themselves, Ruby tackled them both and knocked them to the ground.

"Oof!" Was the collective response. Blake's book bounced away, and Adam's brown eyes showed surprise. All was quiet, before the Faunus children both laughed. Blake patted Ruby's back.

"You can let go of us now Ruby."

For the next month, Ruby met both Adam and Blake at the playground everyday. They would play games, play on the playground, or have Blake read to them until Yang came over to take Ruby home. It was almost like they'd become a little family. But that all changed one day...

Blake and Adam kept glancing nervously at each other as Ruby showed how high she could make the swing go. They had to tell her and they had to do it now. It was getting dark, and Yang would be here any minute.

Ruby looked back at the two Faunas before jumping off the swing and approaching them. "You guys have been acting weird all day!" She accused. "What's wrong?"

Blake took one last look at Adam before sighing. It was now or never. "Ruby... We need to tell you something." Just by the tone of her voice, Ruby knew it was bad news. She hated bad news. "Both of our... um... Parents, are moving." She paused, but Ruby didn't seem to understand. "...We're moving, Ruby. Both me and Adam."

The younger girl stared at her in shock. She looked over to Adam, hoping that he would tell her that Blake was just kidding. That they weren't really going to move. But he only gave her a regretful nod. "Today's our last day here..." He added sadly. Ruby's eyes began filling with tears.

"B-but you guys can't leave!" She exclaimed, her voice wavering.

"Hey, don't worry Little Red." Adam told her. "We'll see each other again someday."

"No we won't!" Ruby cried out. "You guys are gonna leave and I'm never gonna see you ever again!"

Blake sighed before enveloping Ruby in a hug, letting the young girl cry into her chest. Adam laid a hand on her her shoulder. They all stayed like that for a while, until Ruby, tired from playing all day and crying, fell asleep in Blake's arms.

Blake and Adam carried Ruby home. They whispered their goodbyes as they handed her over to Yang. Then they left, hoping hat one day, they'd go back to the playground.

.

Ruby woke up close to noon the next day. She didn't waste a single second before she ran out the door. She didn't change out of her PJ's, she didn't even tell Yang where she was going. She just ran.

Maybe it was all a dream. Maybe Blake and Adam would be there, waiting for her like they always did. Maybe she would get there, and Adam would call out, "Hey Little Red." And Blake would say, "Took you long enough." And then they would play tag, or race up the jungle gym, or Blake would read to them. With these hopeful thoughts, Ruby burst through the forests edge and into the playground.

Her heart sank when she found it empty.

.

* * *

((This idea popped into my head a while ago. I'm thinking of making it a short three or four part story, but I'd like to get you guy's opinions first. Did you like or dislike it?

By the way, who knows what book Blake is reading? (It's pretty obvious)

Oh, and if you're following my story 'Two Teams and A Child', I will post the next chapter soon!))


	2. Chapter 2

When Blake first saw Ruby at Beacon, she couldn't believe it. Was that really the same little girl that she and Adam had found at the playground? The same little girl that they'd played with every day for a month? The same little girl that the White Fang had taken them away from? It couldn't be, yet there she was. Ruby Rose.

And she was being yelled at by a bratty heiress. The Shnee heiress, to be exact.

Blake had helped Ruby then. But she realized that the younger didn't recognize her. She shouldn't have been surprised; after all it had been almost ten years since they'd last seen each other. Yet, it had crushed her. So, before Ruby could ask for her name, Blake turned away and left, letting small tears roll down her cheeks.

.

That night, Blake was reading when two people interrupted her. It was Ruby and Yang. They were both here. But from the way they were talking to her, neither remembered her.

It was good to see that the sisters hadn't changed. Yang was still her bubbly extroverted self, while Ruby was still a bit awkward and shy. When they'd asked for her name, Blake had hesitated before replying. If she told them, would they remember her?

"Blake." She had said finally. When she'd said it, she pretended to continue to read her book. But really, she was watching their faces to gage their reactions. Nothing. Not even her name had jogged their memories.

She'd decided it was for the best. She didn't need them asking her where she had been all this time. So Blake tried to drive them away.

"Lovely night isn't it?" Yang had asked her.

"Yes, almost as lovely as this book." She had answered, trying to sound as cold as possible. But, the sister's hadn't gotten the hint. "That I will continue to read," Still nothing. "As soon as you leave." She looked down at her book once more, trying to give further signal that she wanted to end the conversation.

Yang labeled her a lost cause, and turned to leave. But Ruby hadn't been so quick to give up. "What's it about?"

"Huh?" Blake looked up.

"Your book," Ruby pressed on. "Does it have a name?"

"Well…" Again Blake was reluctant to answer, but decided it couldn't do much harm. "It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."

"Oh yeah, that's real lovely…" Yang said, faking interest. Ruby, however, looked genuinely fascinated.

"I love books." The younger sated, taking a small step forward. "When I was little, a friend used to read to me all the time. Stories of heroes, monsters. They're one of the reasons I wanna be a huntress."

Blake's heart froze for a moment. Whether Ruby remembered or not, she had been the one that read her all the books. No. Blake forced herself to calm down. Ruby was probably talking about someone else.

"Why is that?" Blake asked, trying to act as if she really didn't care. "Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

"Well, I'm hoping we all will." Ruby replied. "As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right, and protected those, who couldn't protected themselves."

This time, Blake couldn't stop the small smile that made its way across her lips. "That's very ambitious for a child." She said. Memories of the White Fang entered her mind. The way the new leader had just showed up and changed everything. The way he had dragged her and Adam away at a young age, so they could be sent off for combat training. Adam…

Her smile changed to a frown. "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale." She expected them to walk away at this point, but when she looked up, Ruby was still smiling down at her.

"Well that's why we're here, to make it better."

Blake hadn't known how to respond. Ruby had changed in the nine years since they'd seen each other. She'd changed for the better. Before the ebony haired girl could say anything, Yang appeared next to Ruby.

"Ohhh! I'm so proud of my baby sister!" She cooed as she wrapped her arms around Ruby and lifted her into the air.

"Ngh! Cut it out!" Ruby cried before throwing a punch at her sister. Then they erupted into a cloud of dust, punches, kicks and grunts. Blake grinned and let herself chuckle. It was refreshing to see how well they got along.

"What in the world is going on over here?!" Oh joy, the heiress had returned. Yang and Ruby stopped their fighting to look and the ivory haired girl. "Don't you know some of us are trying to sleep?" The Shnee heiress stopped her rant stopped her rant when her eyes fell upon Yang.

"Oh not you again!" They yelled at the same time before falling into a loud verbal argument, with Ruby futilely tried to quiet them. Blake rolled her eyes, decided that she'd had enough for one day and blew out the candle.

.

It wasn't until Ruby saw the black cat ears on her head that she finally remembered. Well, it wasn't that she had ever forgotten, it was just that she hadn't realized that the Blake she knew from Beacon as the same Blake from nine years ago.

.

The docks were somewhat quiet, save for the occasional groan that a white fang member would let loose. The entire area was in shambles; unconscious White Fang members lied motionless on the ground, crates of Shnee company dust were strewn about like toy building bricks, and sirens could be heard in the distance. The short leader of team RWBY hurried over to her Faunus friend, who was standing numbly in the middle of all, trying to accept what had just happened.

"Blake! Are you ok?!" Ruby had asked her repeatedly when she reached her. Sun was off to the side, inspecting his weapons to make sure they still functioned properly, and Penny was slowly making her way over to them.

Blake smiled at her friends concern. "I'm fine Ruby." She assured her, forgetting that she was no longer wearing her bow. "You're the one that was fired at by Torchwick. Are you ok?" She asked. But Ruby didn't reply, she just stared at her. "Um… Ruby, what are you..?" Blake's eyes followed Ruby's gaze, which she realized lead to the top of her head.

"I-I…" Was all Blake could stutter out before she began looking around for her black ribbon. She was surprised when she felt a hand grab her shoulder and spin her around. Ruby looked at her, her eyes filled with a mixture of excitement and disbelief.

"No way…" Ruby mumbled. Blake looked down at the ground. It came as quite a surprise when Ruby gave her a giant hug. For a few moments, they were both quiet. Until Ruby started to softly cry. But, they were tears of happiness.

.

Yang was pretty surprised to find out that Blake, her partner, was the same Blake from nine years ago.

"You really never even suspected it?" Blake asked with a hint of amusement. It was the day after the fight with Roman and the White Fang. Team RWBY was given the next few days off to rest, and they had all woken up only a few hours ago.

Blake was sitting on her bed, her bow back in its place, reading a book. Yang was sitting in front of her, on the floor. Weiss was lying down on her bed, doing extra credit work on her binder. The heiress hadn't spoken a word since yesterday. Ruby was sitting on her bed, scribbling something down in her class journal. Well, it was a class journal, but she usually just doodled in it.

"Well, Ruby didn't realize it ether!" Yang tried to defend herself. Blake chuckled lightly.

"Ruby was only six." Blake said.

"Well I was only eight!"

"And apparently not very observant." The Faunus quipped. Her eyes drifted up to the team leader, who was now just staring at the page. "Ruby, are you ok?" She asked. This prompted Yang to look over at her younger sister. Weiss also paused her studying to hear the answer, but didn't look away from her schoolwork.

Ruby looked up from her doodles to look at Blake. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said, though she seemed a bit distracted. "I was just thinking about something." Blake cocked her head to the side.

"You seem to be thinking pretty hard." She commented. "Wanna tell us why?"

Ruby hesitated for a moment. She didn't want to bombard Blake with questions after everything she'd just went through. But, she did have a single question that was nagging at the back of her head.

"I was just wondering…" She said a bit quietly. "What ever happened to Adam?"

Upon hearing his name, Blake froze. She expected that Ruby would ask eventually, she just didn't expect the question to pop up so soon. "Umm…"

"Who's Adam?" Weiss interrupted, sitting up and moving to the edge of her bed.

"He… Um.." Blake began to answer before she was interrupted again, this time by Yang.

"Wasn't he that dramatic kid that was always with you?" The blonde asked.

"Yeah, but… ah…" All eyes rested on Blake as she tried to figure out the best response. What was she supposed to say? That he was one of the White Fang's top hit man? That he hated humans more than anything? That she had left him on the Shnee company train when she left the White Fang?

"Adam is still with the White Fang. I haven't talked to him in almost a year." Blake's tone was in her usual, monotone, yet she seemed hurt.

A long, uncomfortable silence stretched over the dorm. "Oh." Ruby said quietly. Blake went back to reading her book. "Don't you miss him?" The younger asked hesitantly. The Faunus's eyes flicked back up to the leader before going back to her book. Once again, there was a long silence.

"Yes."

.

(Done! A lot of people were wanting me to continue this, and I was looking forward to it. It took me a while for me to figure out how I wanted to continue. I have a few chapters pretyped for this story, and will likely post another tomorrow.

As for my other story, Two Teams and a Child, I am kind of hating myself right now. I was planning to post the next chapter for that two days ago. I accidently deleted the file. 9,000 words, gone. I yelled at my computer for like ten minutes. Now I'm kind of procrastinating on rewriting the chapter, So don't expect anything too soon. But, I'm working on it!

Anyway, I'll likely post another chapter for this soon. Please leave a review and tell what you think!))


	3. Chapter 3

In the emerald forest, not too far from Beacon, Team RWBY fought against a pack of beowolves. It had been about a week after the fight with Torchwick, and the team had been sent to eliminate the small pack of Grimm. Though it was a small job, the team was eager to be out again.

Ruby sliced through one of the monsters, sending it's mangled corpse to the ground. Weiss froze the beowolves then shattered them with her blade. Yang, a smile plastered on her face, punched through the creatures with ease. Blake wrapped the Grimm in Gamboul Shroud, then with a flick of her wrist cut them to pieces.

The beowolves were beginning to thin in numbers, and after another fee minutes were completely eliminated. Team RWBY looked around at the motionless bodies that were beginning to dissipate, making sure they all were in fact dead.

"Well that was fun!" Yang said cheerily before blowing away some smoke from her shotgun gauntlets. Both Blake and Weiss rolled their eyes, but Ruby eagerly nodded in agreement.

"We should start heading back, it will be dark pretty soon." Blake suggested as she looked up at the sky. Though it was still light out, the sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon.

"Yeah, dinner'll be served in a little bit." Yang added.

"Wouldn't want to miss that." Weiss muttered. Without any arguments, the team began the walk back to the school.

"Hey, is JNPR gonna be at the usual table or are they gonna be stuck in after class tutoring?" The busty blonde questioned as she pushed away a low tree branch. Ruby thought for a moment.

"Mmmm... I don't know." She replied and moved her hand to her pocket. "Let me just message them and ask- oh no!" The rest of her teammates whipped their heads toward her, all quickly asking what was wrong. Ruby patted her pockets and the rest of her dress.

"I don't have my scroll! I think I dropped it back there." She said, a bit of panic in her voice. Weiss groaned loudly.

"You are such a child." The white haired heiress complained as she began walking back in the direction they'd come from. "Come on, let's go look for it."

"No, it's fine I'll go by myself." Ruby grabbed her partners arm and pulled her back. "It's my fault I dropped it, I'll go find it." Weiss yanked her arm back and began walking towards the school again. Blake and Yang, however, looked concerned.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Ruby?" Yang questioned. "There could still be some beowolves out there."

"We don't mind waiting." Blake added. Ruby just shook her head and began pushing them both towards the school.

"It's not that far away! I'll be fine!" The younger girl assured them before turning the opposite direction. "I can handle a few little Grimm. And if anything goes wrong I'll just use my semblance. Okgonnagonowbye!" She finished quickly and rushed away.

"Ruby!" Blake and Yang called out, but the hooded girl was already gone, a cloud of rose petals in place of where she had once stood.

.

As Ruby ran, her eyes scanned the area for her scroll. She finally came to a stop at the sight of their previous battle. A few corpses still lied motionless on the ground as they dissipated.

"Come on, it's gotta be here somewhere..." She muttered. She held Crecent Rose in its scythe form, but had absentmindedly lowered it to the ground. Ruby pushed a shrub out of the way, and was happy to see her scroll on the ground.

She bent down to pick it up, and as she was putting it away she heard a loud growl from in front her.

She brought up her weapon just in time to block a Beowolf from mauling her face. She swung down on the monster, cutting it in half. Another Beowolf lunged at her, and she jumped to the side to avoid being ripped apart. But she hadn't realized there was a hole in the ground. Her left foot fell in the hole, and when she jumped back she ripped it out of its socket.

Ruby cried out in pain as she fell to the ground, Crescent Rose fell a few feet away from her. The Beowolf, seeing its prey lying injured on the ground, faced Ruby with a wolffish grin spreading across its muzzle. The young huntress in training attempted to use her semblance to get away, but as soon as she tried to push herself to her feet a bolt of white hot pain shot through her left leg. With a yelp, Ruby fell back to the ground.

The Beowolf stalked towards her at a cruelly slow pace. It was dragging this on, letting its prey suffer from both pain and panic.

Ruby tried to scramble for her scythe, but it was too late. She turned and saw the Beowolf lunge at her. It's claws were outstretched and it had blood lust in its eyes. Ruby raised her arms up over her face in a last attempt to save her own life, closed her eyes, and waited for the pain to come. But it never did.

Ruby opened her eyes to find the creature of Grimm sliced in half, and a young man standing over her, sheathing his sword. He was very tall, much taller than herself, he had on a black cloak-type garment, his brown hair was licked with red highlights, and there was a white mask over his eyes. He looked very familiar.

Not wanting to take any chances, Ruby quickly crawled over, grabbed crescent Rose, shifted it to its sniper form and pointed it at the strange boy. "Who are you?" She asked, trying to mask the pain that she was currently experiencing. He held up his hands in a surrender motion.

"Forgotten about me, huh?" He asked and took a step forward. His voice was gravelly, and seemed to carry a slightly sad tone.

"Well it has been a while. I probably look a lot different." He took another step and Ruby cocked her gun. Sure, this man might have saved her, but he could just as easily attack her too.

"Who are you?" The short girl asked once more. Ignoring her question, the man confined to walk towards her. The closer he got, the more familiar he looked. He stood right in front of her now, and now Ruby could see he two bull horns sticking up from the sides of his head. A flash of a memory passed through her mind as she lowered her weapon. No, it couldn't be.

The man knelt down on one knee beside her, not saying a word. Ruby didn't speak either, could it really be him? The man lifted up his right hand, not moving very fast, as not to scare the small girl, and rested it lightly on his mask. He slowly removed the barrier that had blocked the view of his eyes.

They were a shining brown, and they held so many things inside of them. They held humor, kindness, and warmth. But they also held secrets, sadness and anger. A large pink scar circled around his eyes, like an infinity sign. Even with the scar, Ruby recognized him.

"Hey there Little Red-Oof!"

"Adam!" Ruby shouted with happiness and crushed the air out of his lungs with a giant hug. The sudden movement made her move her foot, and she yelped in pain, quickly recoiling from the embrace and clenching her fists.

"We'll do happy reunions later." Adam told her as he moved to inspect her ankle. Her foot was bent in a way that was not normal. He gave it a gentle prod, and again she yelped. Ruby gritted her teeth. With all the adrenaline from the fight gone, she was finally feeling the full force of the pain.

Adam looked back up at Ruby. "Looks like you dislocated your ankle." He told her softly. The younger girl groaned in both pain and slight fear. "I'm gonna have to push back into its socket. And it's gonna hurt." He added, not willing to sugar coat it. Ruby let of another groan.

"Let's just get it over with." She whined. Adam handed her a small rock and she looked at it questioningly.

"Squeeze the rock whenever it hurts." He told her. Reluctantly, she nodded and held onto the rock with both hands.

"Ok." He said and put his hands on Ruby's foot. "1..." She gripped the rock tightly, not out of pain, but out of fear. "2..." Adam repositioned his hands to attempt and make the process less painful. "...3!" There was a squelch and a crack as Adam pushed the bones back into their proper place. Ruby let out a loud cry, her face contorting and tightening in pain. Having bones forced back into place was almost as painful as having hem ripped out.

Now, Ruby was a tough girl, really she was. But she couldn't stop the tears from dripping down her face. "Is it in?" She whimpered, afraid the answer would be no and she'd have to go through it a second time.

"Yeah, it's in." Adam said gently. Ruby looked down at her ankle. It was swollen and slightly purplish. It still hurt a lot, and she hadn't realized how much she'd been crying. At this point, she had begun hiccuping.

"Here let me get you back to Beacon. You need to get to the nurse." He told her as he, still kneeling, turned his back to her. "Climb up and I'll give you a piggy back ride like old times."

"Oh-*hic*kay." Ruby whimpered and climbed onto his back, trying to put as little pressure on her left side as possible. She wrapped her arms around Adam's neck, he stood up and wrapped each hand around one of her lower thighs to hold her in place. They had done this countless times when they were little, the only difference now being that Ruby was injured. He bent down, grabbed Ruby's weapon and handed it to her. She gave a small thanks before putting it int it's place behind her back.

Adam began walking towards Beacon. He went as fast as he could, but he didn't want to jostle Ruby around too much. The short girl currently had her face buried in his back, trying to stop the tears from seeping from her eyes. The pain in her foot was still very strong. Neither of them spoke. The only sound was Ruby's small whimpers.

"So, I heard you and Blake are on the same team." Adam broke the silence first, wanting to get Ruby's mind off of her foot and also wanting to catch up with her.

"Y-yeah." The scythe wielder answered, her voice wavering a bit. "I'm the leader."

"No way." Adam said in a surprised tone. Ruby gave him a sideways look.

"What do you mean 'no way'?" She questioned, temporarily forgetting her pain. "You don't believe I can be a team leader?"

"I'm just surprised that _my_ Little Red, the same one that used to run around with a milk mustache, is the leader of a team. But I'm sure you're a great leader." He told her with a small chuckle.

Ruby blushed in response. "I was six! Milk mustaches were cool!" She defended herself.

It had been a long time since she'd been called Little Red. Adam wasn't the only one that ever called her that. But he was the only one that had ever called her _his_ Little Red.

"Yang's on my team too." Ruby added, unwrapping one of her arms from around Adam's neck and wiping away a few of her tears.

"Is she still crazy?" He questioned.

"She's not crazy, she's just..." The cloaked girl struggled to think of a good word. "...never mind, she's crazy." Adam laughed.

For the rest of the walk, Ruby told him everything. She told him all about team RWBY, though he'd been a little conflicted when he heard that Weiss Shnee was her partner. Ruby continued to say that, even though she could be a little mean sometimes, she was really nice deep down.

She told him about classes; how hard they were, which teachers were the best and how Yang was convinced that Professor Port had a thing for her. She didn't fail to mention professor Ozpin or professor Goodwitch either.

She told him all about JNPR, about Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren. About how they'd passed initiation together and were all good friends. She also recited a few of Nora's wacky stories.

"And that's how Nora ate a death stalker." Ruby finished with a smile. They, or rather Adam, had been walking for a while now, and dusk had descended upon them. The small girl still clung like an infant to the older boys back.

"I know I haven't met her, but this Nora chick scares me." Adam stated seriously.

Ruby giggled. "Yeah, that's what most people say when I tell them that story." She said. "Hey, are we getting close yet?"

"Actually, we're here." At that moment, Adam broke through the tree line. They stood on the edge of The Emerald Forest About five hundred yards away from Beacon's courtyard. All the lamp posts had been lit up, giving out enough light to illuminate the courtyard. Ruby winced, a new spike of pain running through her leg.

"The nurses office is that wa-" Ruby had started to point out the nurses office, having thought that Adam would take her there. But she was cut off when the taller boy bent down and sat her on the ground underneath the shade of a large tree. The tree was not like all the other evergreens, it looked like a tree from the forever fall, only it was green instead of red.

"Aren't you gonna take me to the nurses office?" She questioned as she rested her back against the trunk and watched as he kneeled next to her.

"Sorry, Little Red." He told her apologetically. "I can't go onto Beacon grounds." Ruby looked at him questioningly, before she remembered something and looked back at the ground.

"I forgot, Blake said you were still with the White Fang. Is that true?" He gave a simple nod in response. "Oh." There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "So, do you hate all humans?"

Adam chuckled. "Don't worry, I could never hate you." He told her with a smile. His expression then changed to a serious one and he sighed as he looked away. His eyes, which had been covered up again by the strange white mask, gazed up at he dark sky. "But," he paused. "Yeah. I do hate most of them." Another long silence.

"Why don't you call your team. They need to get you to the nurse." Adam said, breaking the silence. "I'm sure they're really worried about you."

"Oh yeah!"Ruby exclaimed, suddenly remembering how worried Yang could get. She pulled out her scroll and requested a video chat with her sister. As the scroll connected them, Ruby looked over to the older boy. "Hey, Adam, what happened with you and Blake? You used to be so close." She asked. He sighed and looked away again.

"Things got... Complicated-"

"Ruby!" The sharp voice cut Adam off as a certain blonde brawlers face popped up on the scroll. Her hair was a mess and she looked out of breath.

"Hey Yang." The younger girl replied, putting on a brave face so her sister couldn't see her true pain.

"Where the hell have you been?! I've been searching all over Beacon for you!"the blondes eyes narrowed on the screen. "What happened, why is your face all messed up?" Ruby realized how bad she must've looked. Her hair was all askew, and her eyes were pink and puffy from crying.

"Oh, I, um, Igotattackedintheforestanddislocatedmyankle." Ruby told her in one breath.

"What?!" Both Weiss and Blake's faces appeared next to Yang's. "Why didn't you call?" Yang asked.

"Oh... I forgot." Ruby replied with a shrug. "But, I'm at Beacon now! I'm on the west side, right by the emerald forest. Would you guys mind coming and taking me to the nurses office? I can't really walk."

"Wait, if you can't walk, how did you get to Beacon?"

Ruby smiled suddenly. "Oh! I almost forgot! Guess who helped me get here!" She turned the camera towards an unsuspecting Adam, who was fully illuminated by Beacons lamp lights. He was currently looking up at the broken moon. "Say hi, Adam!"

The bull Faunus turned in her direction. His eyes widened when he saw the camera pointed at him. No one was supposed to know he was here. He just blew his cover. The leader would kill him if he found out. "Red! No one is supposed I know I'm here!" He hissed. Ruby quickly lowered her scroll.

"Oops!" She exclaimed. But the damage had already been done.

"Adam?!" Blake's voice rang out from the holographic device. Her face was now the only one on the screen, as she'd pushed both Weiss and Yang out of the way. "Ruby, stay right there! We're coming! Adam, if you touch her I'll-"

Her voice was cut short when the tall boy grabbed the scroll from Ruby and hung up. Silence overtook them as he handed the device back to her.

"Sorry Adam," Ruby spoke up first. "I didn't know you didn't want anyone to see you."

He sighed before responding. "It's ok, Little Red." He told her. "You had no way of knowing." He have her a gentle smile to reassure her, which she quickly returned. Both their smiles disappeared when he stood up. "I should leave now."

"What?! Why?" Ruby cried.

"Your friends are coming to get you. I need to leave before Blake tries to kill me." His voice held a joking tone, but Ruby's frown didn't change.

"Here," He kneeled down again and picked up Ruby's scroll. After pressing a few buttons, then pulling out his own scroll and pressing a few buttons on it, he have her scroll back to her. "I have your scroll number now. I'll message you sometime."

"Promise?" The scythe wielder asked, her soft silver eyes staring at his white mask.

Adam chuckled. "I promise." He began to stand up again, but Ruby grabbed his sleeve. He looked at her again.

"Will you stay just until they get here?" She asked, a small glint of desperation in her eyes. He was about to answer, when Ruby quickly added, "Please?"

Adam let the corner of his mouth flick upwards in a small smile. "Ok, but as soon as I see them I have to leave." Ruby only nodded in agreement.

Then they sat their, side by side with their backs up against the tree trunk. Neither of them said a word, Adam continued to look at the shattered moon, while Ruby tried to focus on anything except for her swelling ankle. But, without anything to focus on, the pain continued to worsen.

"Ruby!" The cry broke through the silence. Looking up, they both saw three girls running full throttle towards them. Leading the charge was Blake, her ebony colored hair flowing in the wind. Close behind her was Yang, her usually lavender eyes now a crimson red. It had been her who had called out her sisters name. Close on their heels was Weiss, she looked almost as angry as Yang.

"That's my cue." Adam said as he stood up.

"Bye Adam." Ruby told him sadly. He grinned as he bent down.

"Bye Little Red." He said softly. He kissed her lightly on the forehead, making her blush like mad, then pulled the hood of her cloak over her face. Ruby struggled for a few moments to remove her hood. When she could finally see again, Adam was gone. But a few seconds later Yang was right in front of her, Weiss and Blake at her side.

"Ruby, are you ok? Did he hurt you?" Yang began to rattle off questions. "If he even touched you I'll skin him alive!" Her hair flared a little bit.

"No he didn't..." Ruby began.

"You'll have to get in line." Blake growled.

"He didn't do-"

"Of course you would get yourself in this situation." Weiss mumbled as she inspected Ruby's ankle.

"I'm going to go look for Adam. You two take Ruby to the nurse." The ebony hair girl said before removing her weapon from its holster on her back.

"Blake, wait!" Ruby yelled. The Faunus paused and looked down at her. "Can't you just let him go? Please?"

There were a few seconds of silence.

"No."

Then she took off into the forest.


End file.
